I have
found the plans for my dream house on the inhouseplans.com website, but will prefer
minor adjustments. Can that be done, and at
what cost?

inhouseplans.com offers
a wide variety of architect designed
house plans at very affordable prices.
The inventory of available building
plans grows steadily as new plans
are constantly added to the website.
If you however see a plan that conforms
to your needs, but you would prefer
some minor adjustments, send us an
email with your request. The inhouse
architect will respond and if it is
a minor change, it will be done at
no extra cost once you have ordered
the plan. You can also order the plans
in electronic format. Any architect
or draftsman in SA will be able to
open the plans and make adjustments
to your requirements. You still save
a huge amount as the basic design
and building plans are complete.
From 1 July 2006, all persons practising
architecture or submitting building
plans to local authorities will be
obliged to register with SACAP.

inhouseplans.com will
supply you with our registration number
should you only order plans in hard
copy. inhouseplans.com will only certify
the building plans, excluding the
site plan and or any other changes
made to the original building plans.
You could otherwise opt to get a draughtsman
in your area to do the site plan and
the approval at the local authority.
Please see directory for contact numbers
of SACAP and SA institute of Draughtsman.

What
is expected from me after I have received
my inhouseplans.com building plans?

After your order has been received, inhouseplans.com will courier your complete set of building
plans to your specified address, within 5
working days of receiving your payment. All
you need to do is to fill in your own particulars
in the spaces provided on the building plans,
and complete the pro-forma site plan with
the particulars of your own stand. This will
include the position and dimensions of your
site boundaries, as well as the position of
your sewer connection point, and you will
have to draw a connecting line from the sewer
line to connection point of your stand. This
information is available (usually free of
charge) from the town planning and town engineer's
offices of your local authority. Then you
need to submit the ready to be approved plans
at your local authority.

Please note that most local authorities will
levy a certain plan scrutiny fee on submission
of the building plan. Also see the relevant
section in the inhouseplans.com website, on the Building Consultant section.

This package will include a set of ready
to be approved building plans, plus the number
of copies as ordered by you. Your pro-forma
site plan will also be included to be used
as guide when completing the site plan on
your newly acquired building plans. The package
will include other documentation as indicated
on your order form, such as a pro-forma tender
document, a typical agenda for your site meetings
with the building contractor, a payment schedule
which is a handy tool to calculate monthly
payments to your contractor as well as a contract
document, if your have ordered one, all with
the compliments from inhouseplans.com.

We have handed the plans that we have received to our builder who requests the following: Steel beam design, Roof plan, Electrical plan, Plumbing plan and the Foundation plan.
These don't seem to have been included in the plans sent to us?

The plans that is provided by inhouaseplans.com, complies with the minimum required by the National Building Regulations for approval at any local authority in SA.
With regard to your query:

The design of a steel beam has to be executed by a qualified structural engineer.

A roof plan is not a requirement for local authority approval. There are numerous so-called design and supply companies with an in-house structural engineer with the software packages, who design the roof trusses and provide an engineer certificate.

An electrical plan is not required for plan approval and we have found that people have very different requirements with regard to positions of lights, switches, power points etc. It is very easy to sit down with an electrical contractor (or electrician) and mark up a drawing with your requirements.

The drainage (sewer) layout is indicated on the plans as well as elevations on drawing no. 01 in a colour code as required by the National Building Regulations.

inhouseplans.com cannot provide a foundation plan, as the soil conditions at the locality of every standard plan sold is not known. It is also not required for plan approval. If there is any slight suspicion that the soil condition is not sound, it is advisable to appoint a structural engineer to advise on the foundation design.

Once you have reached the pages where the
sketch plan of your dream house is displayed,
you can add this plan to your shopping basket.
Just click on the Shopping Basket link. You
can add as many plans as you want to your
shopping basket, and later remove them again.
Once you have made up your mind, click on
the link telling you to proceed to the check-out
point. Please follow the prompts onscreen,
and provide all the information as requested.
You can at any stage back out of this process
by simply clicking either on your browser's
"Back" button or by clicking on
any of the links on the inhouseplans.com website.
On finally submitting your order, you will
be presented with a confirmation page with
a reference number. Please print this page
for your own record by clicking on your browser's
"Print" button. You will receive
an e-mail confirming your order number and
the inhouseplans.com banking details. Once
we have received confirmation of payment of
the purchase price, the package with your
building plans will be dispaatch within five
working days. You will also receive an e-mail
from inhouseplans.com giving you the waybill
number from the courier company, to enable
you to track the delivery yourself.

inhouseplans.com makes use of MWeb's SafeShop payment gateway. Safeshop is a comprehensive and secure e-commerce systems available, incorporating SSL encryption and tamper-proof digital objects to assist in the prevention of hacking and impersonation. A secure firewall security system and an offline encrypted storage facility to minimise risk and provide peace of mind.
SafeShop also offers fraud protection with the implementation of 3D secure: a technology developed by MasterCard and VISA as a means to reduce online credit card fraud.
If you still don't feel comfortable using your credit card online, you can make an Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) using the banking details provided.

If you are a registered architect and are
of the opinion that your designs are of the
same high standards as presented on the inhouseplans.com website, please use the data-capturing facility
available on the SEARCH page. Our resident
architect will evaluate your application and
come into contact with you.

Why
should I buy from inhouseplans.com instead
of appointing my own architect or draughtsman?

All plans presented on the inhouseplans.com website reflect very high architectural design
standards, and are sold at a small fraction
of the prices normally charged by a draughtsman
or architect. Please see the comparison between
our prices and the typical industry related
prices listed with the detail of each plan.
You simply cannot afford NOT to buy your building
plans from inhouseplans.com ! However, should
you wish to appoint a professional to have
your house custom designed to your individual
requirements and serve as a project manager
you must appoint an architect to provide a
full professional service. You can appoint
one of the inhouseplans.com architects in
your region by contacting us, or consult either
the SA Institute of Architects or the telephone
directory, for an architect in your area.

If I agree on a plan and payment is done what time period am I looking at before actually receive the plan?

It usually takes a maximum of 5 working days for the package to be delivered to your doorstep, after confirmation of payment has been received form Absa Bank. Please note that it will be delivered by courier and it cannot be delivered to a postal address.

However it is important to note the following:

It may take longer for a delivery to a township

Deliveries to neighbouring states may take up to 10 working days.

If you have ordered a List of Materials and Quantities, allow 10 working days for the unit costs to be updated by the Quantity Surveyor.

Our record shows that packages have often been delivered two days after confirmation of order and payment.

How
do I get my particulars registered in the inhouseplans.com Products and Services Directory?

The Products and Services Directory is
a comprehensive listing of role players
in the South African home building market.

It is offered as a free service to everybody
visiting the inhouseplans.com website. If
you are providing any house building related
products or services in South Africa, you
are invited to submit your particulars on
the DIRECTORY page, free of charge. Your
particulars will be verified, and placed
in the listing until you request us to remove
it again.

What
benefits will listing my particulars in the inhouseplans.com Products and Services Directory
offer me?

Sinceinhouseplans.com is exposed to a segment of the consumer market
wishing to build a house, it offers a variety
of Value-ads to organizations listed in the
Products and Services Directory. Because it
is so comprehensive, homeowners as well as
property developers, building contractors,
sub contractors and of course, architects
will extensively use the Products and Services
Directory. Value-ads include the ideal opportunity
for role players to enhance their own business
by taking up a banner ad on the inhouseplans.com website, and possible affiliations will be
considered where a certain service provider
will be offered a free banner ad on our site
in return for a free inhouseplans.com banner
ad on his/her site. If you are a national
supplier of a house building related product, inhouseplans.com may consider specifying your
product on our building plans. We will also
consider placing your flier ad in our package
couriered tour clients.